NEW DELHI: Shahid Afridi has slammed the Pakistan cricket management’s decision to appoint Salman Agha as the captain of the T20I team. Under Agha’s leadership, Pakistan has struggled and faced intense criticism from former players and cricket pundits.Agha was handed the T20I captaincy during the late 2024 tour of Zimbabwe and is now leading the side in the 2025 Asia Cup, where his captaincy has come under heavy scrutiny.Under his command, Pakistan has lost both of their matches against India in the tournament. They went down by seven wickets in the group stage and were defeated again in the Super Four clash by six wickets, leaving fans and experts frustrated.“Koi baat nahi, time lo, soch ke decision lo, aur phir us bande ko sahi jagah pe bitha do, decision sahi ho jayenge. Ab Salman Ali Agha mujhe, ab aap soch lo, Salman Ali Agha mujhe bahut pasand hai. ODIs ke andar, haan, agar aap kahoge captain to main Salman Ali Agha ka naam lunga [It’s okay, take your time, make a decision after thinking, and then put the right person in the right place — the decisions will turn out fine. Now, as for Salman Ali Agha, you know, I really like him. In ODIs, yes, if you ask me for a captain, I would take Salman Ali Agha’s name],” Afridi said.“Ab T20 ke andar, ek captain bana diya jiska strike rate sirf 79 hai. Toh 79 ke strike rate ko aap kaise captain bana rahe ho? Ye dusron ke liye kya example set karega ki kitna fast khelna hai? [Now, in T20s, you’ve made a captain whose strike rate is only 79. How can you make someone with a 79 strike rate a captain? What kind of example does that set for others on how fast they should play?]”“Toh kehne ka matlab ye hai ki time lo, jo bhi captain banana hai, time lo. Koi jaldi mat karo, aur jaldi bhi nahi hai. Aage, Rizwan ko continue kar lete hain, koi problem nahi hai, aur phir decide karenge. Ek team mate hai woh. [So the point is — take time when choosing a captain. Don’t rush, there’s no hurry. Moving forward, we can continue with Rizwan, it’s no problem, and then decide later. He is a teammate after all],” the former Pakistan captain added.Pakistan will now face Sri Lanka in their next Super Four clash on Tuesday.
